Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Imagination is where ideas start: in the mind’s eye. The ability to think creatively – to dream the impossible – is behind the technological developments that have transformed the world. Science, suggests the second of four Cambridge Shorts, is an art.

Observation of the point at which proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease become toxic to brain cells could help identify how and why people develop the disease, and aid in the search for potential treatments.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge is to lead a delegation of academics to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2016, to explore issues including carbon reduction technologies and how science and engineering can best address society's greatest challenges.

Worried you might be at risk from diabetes? Check your phone: it might help stop you getting the disease. And if you already have diabetes? Your phone might even help you monitor your condition at home.

The University of Cambridge has concluded a £4 million agreement with Chinese health firm Infinitus (China) Company Ltd. (Infinitus (China) for short) to explore the activity of plant-derived compounds at the molecular and cellular levels.

Many animals, including humans, acquired essential ‘foreign’ genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times, according to research published in the open access journal Genome Biology. The study challenges the conventional view that animal evolution relies solely on genes passed down through ancestral lines and suggests that, at least in some lineages, the process is still ongoing.

Cambridge scientists are part of a resolution revolution. Building powerful instruments that shatter the physical limits of optical microscopy, they are beginning to watch molecular processes as they happen, and in three dimensions.

New research shows that the natural reactions taking place in some of the underground reservoirs used to store carbon dioxide may prevent carbon emissions from being transported to greater depths, where it may be less likely to leak into the atmosphere.